The pathetic syllogism and how to console people in grief

Imagine that a close friend of yours has experienced the loss of a loved one. Understandably, she is in grief. But this has been going on for a while now, and she risks not being able to get back to a normal, functional existence. How do you console her?

Turns out, the answer depends on whether she is a practitioner of Stoic philosophy or not. And a strategy for…